BY SPECIAL REPOTER
PRESIDENT of the Republic of
Portugal,
President of the Parliament,
Secretary-General of the Council of
Europe,
Government Ministers and Members of
Parliament,
President of the Portuguese
Parliament’s Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
Chair of the Executive Committee of
the North‐South Centre,
Fellow laureate, Suzanne Jabbour,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a singular pleasure for me to
be here with you and to tell you how deeply honoured I am by this remarkable
award.
This ceremony is particularly meaningful for me - for several
reasons.
This award, first of all, has special significance because of who
shares it - Madame Suzanne Jabbour. Her dedication to those who are
tortured is an example that inspires us all. I know she will agree when I
mention the list of those - from both South and North - who have received this award
since 1995.
It is a moving experience to have
one’s work recognized alongside theirs.
In addition, of course, this prize has
particular meaning because of those who organize it - the men and women of the
North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, who contribute so much to
advancing democratic citizenship in our world.
The Aga Khan Development
Network has been proud to join with the Centre in distinguished projects such
as the annual Lisbon Forum held at the Ismaili Centre.
The significance of this
award is also enhanced for me by the fact that it has been presented by the
President of Portugal, in the presence of so many eminent leaders, and in this
splendid Parliamentary setting.
The Ismaili Imamat and the
Aga Khan Development Network have had a long, close relationship with
Portugal, built on shared values. Over many centuries, Portugal has
welcomed and integrated people of diverse cultures. It was here on the
Iberian Peninsula that Al-Andulus flourished for so long as a model of
effective pluralism, a home for Christian and Jewish peoples that was also part
of an Islamic empire. This is surely an appropriate place for celebrating
the values associated with this award.
The North-South prize affirms
principles which have long been animated and sustained by the work of the
Aga Khan Development Network.
Our Network seeks in many ways to
improve the quality of human life, in health, education, in cultural and
economic development. But our core conviction is that human progress
depends on human cooperation, even across difficult lines of division.
As I observe the world, I am struck
by the insufficiency of well-informed debate, of richer dialogue, of deeper
education in our quest to avoid human conflict. That insufficiency often
plagues relations between the North and the South-- and increasingly between
the North and the Islamic world.
Some have called this a clash of
civilizations—I think it is, essentially, a clash of ignorances. What it
means, in any case, is that institutions such as the North-South Centre have
never been more important.
A related problem is the failure of so many
to recognize that pluralism is not only a growing fact of life but also a
blessing for their communities—an opportunity to be welcomed rather than a
threat to be feared.
Since ancient times, great cultures
have thrived because of their openness to diversity, and not because of their
exclusivity. It was to address this issue that the Government of Canada
and I created a new Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa in 2006.
Recently
the Global Centre held its Third Annual Pluralism Lecture—a platform for global
leaders to reflect on this topic. Our first two Lecturers in 2012 and
2013 were the former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Roza Otunbayeva, and the
former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan. This spring our guest
lecturer was Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
since 2005.
One reason I mention him here, of
course, is because he was, for seven years, the Prime Minister of Portugal.
Before that, as many of you know, he also played a key role in the refugee
affairs with the Council of Europe, and its Parliamentary Assembly. His recent
Lecture described, eloquently, the unprecedented scale and severity of the
world’s refugee crises. He addressed, passionately, the moral challenge this
crises presents, the tragic impulse of some to exploit it, and the critical
importance of standing together on behalf of human tolerance.
I commend his words to you; they
resonate powerfully with the purposes of the North-South Centre.
We
inhabit an overcrowded and interconnected planet and yet we share a common
destiny. A weakness or pain in one corner can rapidly transmit itself across
the globe. The pervasive rejection of pluralism in all its forms plays a
significant role in breeding destructive conflicts.
An example is the current
situation in the Middle-East, where conflict is having a profound destabilising
impact— in the region but also well beyond—including here in Europe.
Instability is infectious, but so is hope.
And that it is why it is so
important for us to carry the torch of hope as we seek to share the gift of
pluralism.
Pluralistic values have been articulated since ancient times.
Profound expressions about our common humanity are embedded in the world’s great
religious traditions, including my own. But now it is for us to
re-articulate those traditions. As we do so, our support for one another
can be a source of renewed and growing strength.
It is ironic that a
sense of intensified conflict comes at a time of unprecedented breakthroughs in
communication technology. At the very time that we talk more and more about
global convergence, we also seem to experience more and more social
divergence. The lesson it seems to me is that technologies alone will not
save us-- the critical variable will always be and will always lie in the
disposition of human hearts and minds.
That, it seems to me, is what
the work of the North-South Centre is all about, including our gathering
today.
I am grateful for the opportunity to share with all of you in
this experience - and in the great purposes to which it calls us.
Thank you.
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